You should give Rice a shot. The reasons you applied there before are probably still valid, and you have done very well a peer school. Rice does not have Greek life, and is not as much of a “bubble” as Wash U. Houston has more going on than St. Louis. Rice is very diverse racially and socioeconomically. It gets very high ratings for race/class interaction and happiest students. The math and physics programs are very good. Rice is Division 1, so most athletes are recruited and on scholarships. You could probably play a club sport if you recover from your injury. Good Luck with your transfer applications next year. Vanderbilt seems to admit a fairly large number of transfers. You might find the atmosphere at Vandy to be very similar to Wash U, but Nashville is a great town. The Greek scene at Vandy is a big deal.
The problem I see is that if you say that you don;t like the consistency of instruction, and the instructors don’t let you “think”, how do you know that the other schools will be different? Every school has good and bad profs. Is this a department wide problem or did you just end up with a bad prof or two in your classes? Is there a department philosophy of instruction that you can point to that does not fit your way of learning? Do you have proof that your target school will be different? If you tell admins that your current school (which is widely known and respected), doesn’t have good profs and won’t let you think, its not going to come off well.
So to be clear, in my transfer essays, I should really focus on why I want to transfer IN to the university I am applying to, and not why I want to transfer out of WUSTL?
It may be easier to avoid sounding like a complainer that way. That is why people are posting to stay positive in your essays.
Before you attend someplace new- and ideally before you apply- suggest it would be wise to contact current students attending there- including upper-level students in your intended major- and get “the real poop”. If done sooner rather than later, this could help inform your application list. And make for a more effective application.
Consider what extra “remedial” courses you may have to take, in each case , to meet distribution and any other university requirements.
Recognize that LAC’s have relatively few slots, and the more selective universities are indeed more selective. So you should ideally have more than just stats on offer. Also you should start from a wider net, and whittle down intelligently to the ones that, after your research, legitimately best meet your needs.
For the application, emphasis should be on why the particular target school is a great fit for you, why “you belong there”. Then, how it resolves/ mitigates the aspects of your current situation that you would like to improve upon. Finally, “what’s in it for them?” Why should they take you, above the other qualified candidates that may fit? How will your presence there enhance their community?
i think youll have a shot! i was just accepted as a transfer to notre dame with a 3.666 college gpa. feel free to message me if you have any questions.
@vnavarro01 can you PM me? For some reason, I can’t PM you.
Notre Dame has great school spirit, but its pretty homogenous. Notre Dame does have a ton of intramural sports that you could get involved with. Your stats sound great and I’m sure you’ll end up where you’re supposed to be!
It sounds like a lot of the things you dislike at Wash U will still exist at other schools as well. Keep in mind, if you transfer as a junior, you may not be able to adapt as easily socially.
The grass is always greener on the other side. You will likely be trading one set of problems with another. I’d really think this through before you make the change.